9-4: Illusion
In honor of my younger sister's birthday, I've decided to post this chapter (though I probably should have done it a long time ago). School starts next Wednesday for me and I'm pretty bummed out. At least I have a cool roomie.
(((-4-)))
Aelita bit her lip and glanced around. "I need to let them know that I'm here. But how?"
Dan paused beside a gift shop to catch his breath. "Well, if you don't have their phone numbers, I don't see how you're going to be able to."
The pink-haired girl sagged against the wall and dropped her head. "There's got to be a way…"
The song from the speakers inside the shop attracted her attention and she went still, an idea forming in her brain. The cat…it couldn't have been a coincidence. She needed something bigger than that. Much bigger. She cast about and her eyes settled on her companion's shirt. "What's that?" she asked, pointing.
"What? This?" he looked down at his shirt and grimaced. "I dunno. It's a weird dragon. I was forced to wear this thing because it was a present from my aunt. My cousins probably picked it out. Kinda freaky, if you ask me. Hey…what's with you, Aelita?"
The girl had closed her eyes, hands together, and began to sing. The blonde teenager stepped awkwardly away as her voice seemed to take on a sort of solidity and swell, growing and transforming into some strange being.
Then suddenly right above their heads, dark scales and feathers formed, stretching up to shape the wings and body of a hideous creature! Its head appeared and as it opened its throat to roar, people began screaming. The dragon's tail lashed, wings beating to rise high above the crowds of people. Aelita felt a smidgeon of satisfaction as she surveyed her work.
Dan himself was divided between Aelita and the creature. "Y-you did that?" She nodded, bracing herself for a fiery torrent of disgust and— "Awesome! Is it real?"
Aelita shook her head, surprised by his ready acceptance. At first she had tried to make it real, but the power had nearly snapped back and struck her like a broken rubber band. So she had settled on an illusion.
"I take it this is bound to attract at least one of your friends?"
"Hopefully." Perspiration was forming on her brow as she concentrated on keeping the dragon visible with only her mind. She'd never done it before this way. True, her lifepoints depleted when she used it on Lyoko, but never had she felt the effects so powerfully.
"How do you know it will?"
"They will. Believe me."
"Umm…what if it attracts the wrong kind of attention? Like from her."
The pink-haired girl only had enough time to turn around and notice Krelle before the water fountain she was standing next to exploded! Pieces of pipe and metal fragments bounced around them and had it not been for Dan, Aelita would have been skewered.
He grabbed and shoved her facedown on the cement, protecting her with his body. The Pawn's expression was cold as stone as she strode through the mob of panicking people whose fear was split between the freaky kid with glowing eyes and a creature that looked like it could swallow a city bus without chewing.
Dan forced himself to his knees and clapped a hand to the laceration on his shoulder, gritting his teeth in pain. "I'll take care of you, Aelita," he promised.
She felt rather than saw the dragon give a final roar and vanish. And then all her strength seemed to sap away and she fell limply to the pavement.
"Subject A acquired," Krelle reported in an unfeeling tone.
(V)
Ulrich groaned. Neither of his clones had seen anyone remotely resembling Aelita. He himself was perched high up on a statue, ignoring the stern glances from adults and catcalls from girls his own age who thought he was cute. But still there was no sign of either Aelita or Talia.
"This is impossible!" he grumped. He nearly fell off his roost as his cell phone rang. "Yumi? Please tell me you've found Aelita!"
(V)
Odd panted as he climbed the steps. "Are we there yet?"
"Gee whiz! It's just the third floor. You eat too much and don't exercise enough, you know that?"
"Oh yeah? This from a guy who skips gym class all the time so he can spend time with a certain pink-haired—"
"Cut it out, Odd. I get your drift, okay?"
"Why can't we take the doggone elevator?"
"Because we don't know if she would get off on any of the lower floors, all right!"
"Well you don't have to be a grouch about it," the other kid muttered crossly. "She could have gone straight to the top and all the way back down by this time and we're working up a sweat for nothing."
Jeremy was just about to explode when his phone started ringing. Biting back his retort to Odd, he picked it up. "Hello?"
"Jeremy," Yumi was nearly shouting over the sound of screaming in the background on the other end of the phone. "I'm pretty sure it's Aelita. There's no other explanation for what I'm looking at. I'll find her and get to the factory. You guys meet me there. Get it?"
"Got it."
"Good."
(V)
Krelle lifted her hand and the ground began to rumble as water below the surface collected at her command. "Termina—ugh!"
Janika plowed into Talia's body screeching a yowl, her body shifting and changing in slight feline ways as Bloodlust overwhelmed her senses. The earth blew up in a shower of water and hard cement as Krelle fought back. Both of them were pelted with debris as they tussled on the ground.
Aelita's friend drove the breath out of her enemy with a fist to the stomach and Krelle retaliated with savage hair-pulling. Claw-like hands raked her arms and throat, leaving behind lines of red.
The brawl lasted only a few more minutes until the girl with her long braid kicked the Pawn in the face with such force that Krelle rolled over, lights out.
Janika knelt over the unconscious girl, breathing hard as she tried to calm down. Someone touched her arm and she looked up to see the really cute blonde boy that had assisted Aelita standing there, concerned. One sleeve was soaked with blood, but the injury didn't seem that bad. "Are you okay?" he asked, anxiety coating his words.
Controlling the primal urge to attack, she accepted his offered hand with a nod. " I'm fine. Thanks for helping Aelita out. How is she?"
"She nearly fainted, but not completely. She's just lying there, moaning. Could you explain what's going on to me?"
She gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. We'd be here all day if I did. Look, I have to get her out of here. That thing isn't easy to defeat, and I'm afraid of what might happen if we kill it. Talia might not have a body when we go back in ti—"
"Janika!" a snappish voice cut her off just in time. Yumi came running up, her face etched with worry. "Is that the Pawn? Looks like she cleaned this place up. Who are you?" she wondered, noticing Dan. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. C'mon! I told the others we found Aelita, now let's just get her to the factory."
"Uh, how exactly? We can't just drag her onto the bus. They'll never let us take an unconscious girl across town."
Yumi slumped, thinking hard.
Dan shifted confidently beside them. "I think I might have the answer to your little problem, girls." They turned, prepared to tell him to get lost. Then he held up something very shiny and, at the moment, attractive. "Turns out that I'm a very proficient pick-pocket."
"Really?"
"Nope," he said, flashing the brown-haired girl a winning smile. "But I was holding onto my aunt's keys today because of circumstances which I am not at liberty to reveal to you."
"Did she lose her purse?" Janika speculated.
"Exactly. It's really a funny story. You see—"
"Later!" the Japanese girl snapped. "Let's get Aelita to the factory pronto, then you can tell us your life story. Deal?"
"I'll hold you to it, you know," he warned.
"Shush it. Let's get out of here before the Pawn wakes up."
Dan helped support Aelita in her semi-conscious state. The pink-haired girl moaned and murmured, hardly aware of her surroundings. When the men at the gate asked what was wrong, Yumi quickly told them her friend had been scared half out of her wits by the dragon and that seemed to satisfy them.
The boy with perfect sky blue eyes led them to a small European car that looked like a Twinkie with windows. He slowed up as they approached it, suddenly nervous. "Um…I neglected to tell you guys this before…but I can't drive."
They stared at him in incredulity. "Then why on earth are we going with you?" Yumi exploded.
"Hey, it's okay, Yumi!" Janika intervened. She placed herself squarely between them so that her friend couldn't claw his eyes out. "I used to drive a four-wheeler back home. I'm sure the mechanics are pretty much the same for a car."
Little did she know how wrong she really was.
If any of you have ever driven a four-wheeler, you know what I'm talking about. The one I drove had gears you shifted w/ your feet and the accelerator was triggered w/ your hands. So you can take a wild guess about what's going to happen. New poll! What would you do if a hot dog you were about to eat jumped up and started singing? (disclaimer: I do not speak from personal experience)